About

The POCSO Act places the first duty on the ordinary citizen. Our work is to make that citizen capable of discharging it.

This is the gap the Rakshin Project addresses. A duty that is unknown is not a duty that is performed, and a duty that is known but unaccompanied by confidence is abandoned at the moment it is invoked. Denial, stigma, shame and silence do the rest, and each of these is learned rather than innate.

Awareness alone does not alter conduct. Response in the moment is drawn from what has been made instinctive, not from information received once and set aside. The Rakshin Project therefore builds capacity in sequence rather than in a single sitting, sustains it between sessions through microlearning and structured recall, and requires every Change Agent to deliver the content onward to others.


The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act came into force in 2012. It is a comprehensive statute. It defines the offences, provides for child friendly procedure and special courts, and presumes the guilt of the accused once the foundational facts are established. It also does something few laws do: it places a duty on the ordinary citizen. Under Sections 19 and 21, any person who has apprehension that an offence is likely to be committed, or knowledge that one has been committed, is required to report it, and failure to do so is itself punishable.

That provision is where our theory of change begins. The Act does not rely on the police or the courts to find the child. It relies on whoever is standing closest to her: a teacher, a neighbour, an Anganwadi Worker, a student. The statute has already identified the intervention point. What it cannot do is prepare the person standing there.

Our core metric is the number of Change Agents who complete training with knowledge of the law, clarity on where redress lies, and the intent to act.

The Rakshin Project for Youth

Delivered since 2019 with the support of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, in partnership with the Directorate of the National Service Scheme. The partnership extends our reach to 40,000 colleges. The memorandum of understanding was renewed in 2026 and runs to 2028.

A youth led movement to end child sexual abuse.

The Rakshin Fellowship comprises eighteen modules across five levels, totalling twenty hours, with certification issued at each level. From Level 4, fellows deliver sessions to students of other institutions and receive a deliverables based stipend against those sessions. Each fellow concludes with a self designed community project. The model is one of multiplication: every Change Agent trained is a trainer created.

The Rakshin Project for Anganwadis

Delivered since 2022, building a cadre of Sashakt Rakshins.

Anganwadi Workers are mandated reporters under the POCSO Act. Very few have received the training that obligation assumes.

The Anganwadi Worker is the first point of institutional contact with a young child and her mother, and is placed to recognise change in a child before anyone outside the household. The programme consists of three batch wise full day capacity building workshops on gender roles, child sexual abuse and the POCSO Act, reinforced through WhatsApp based microlearning and IEC material, assessed through pre and post tests, and delivered within the existing ICDS structure, with the state convening the cohort and Sakshi providing trained facilitators.

Creating a Culture of Accountability for a Responsible India

Awards

Laadli Media Award
2013

Best Play on Gender Equality

Karmaveer Puraskaar
2016

For Social Change & Justice

ASSOCHAM Award
2019

Outstanding Contribution towards Gender Equality

Frequently Asked Questions

  • A Rakshin is a preventer of Child Sexual Abuse who has been skill-built and has access to information, resources and tools. The NSS Volunteers of 40,000 Colleges will be equipped to become Rakshins : The POCSO Champions of Change

  • The Rakshin Project will be delivered in 40,000 Colleges Pan-India in each district.

  • The Rakshin Project is built on a unique Five Pillar structure that is framed within the Constitutional Right to Equality. The programme entails a 3 Hour on-ground Experiential Workshop to equip NSS Students from each college with tools to prevent Child Sexual Abuse. For students who are survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. The Rakshin Project also provides Resolution Mechanisms in the form of Creative Expressions, Counselling and Legal Aid.To ensure sustainability, the programme entails a Rakshin Fellowship programme with Five Levels. Through the various levels, the Rakshins will raise awareness in communities through : Each Teach Two, Focused Group Discussions and Village Interventions, organised and moderated by them. At the end of the two-year NSS cycle, students who have completed and excelled in all Four Levels can apply for the prestigious ‘Rakshin Fellowship 5.0’. 10 Rakshins identified through a rigorous screening process will be awarded seed-funding as Rakshin Fellow 5.0.

  • Rakshin Fellowship

    The purpose of the Rakshin Fellowship program is to build a brigade of skilled, empathetic young adults in every family across India, who can recognize child sexual abuse, have the language to call out the behaviors, know where to report it, and most importantly,, are equipped with the important and delicate skills for interrogating, examining and interrupting the cycle of violence. The action-practitioner approach is designed to impact the participating youth's knowledge, attitude, and practice. The Rakshin Fellowship offers 18 modules 12 certificates over five levels to equip the participating Rakshins with skills to interrogate, examine, and interrupt cycles of violence and practice de-escalation and resolution in real-life scenarios.

    Resolution Mechanisms

    Considering 1 out 2 in India are survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, and 50% of cases go unreported, leading to unaddressed post-traumatic stress, the resolution mechanisms built into the program design offer counseling, legal advice, and creative expressions to shift the denial of the impact of sexual abuse on mental health and assist survivors towards healing, resolution of unaddressed trauma and resilience building.

    Sustained Engagement

    This tackles denial and stigma associated with child sexual abuse by creating opportunities to center victim/survivor’s needs and integrity, humanize and validate their experiences by a) believing them, b) reassuring them that it was not their fault, c) ensuring that they have access to resources and a safe space. Silence and shame are tackled by destigmatizing the narratives surrounding sexual abuse and emphasizing that the abuser is always at fault regardless of context and that the victim/survivor is entitled to care, empathy, and resolution.

  • Rakshin 1.0

    expresses learnings through Creative Expressions. The top 1000 artworks to be selected and exhibited on The Rakshin Project social outreach platforms.

    Rakshin 2.0

    is equipped with the information, understanding, tools, and language to be a peer educator, with the responsibility of Each Teach Two.

    Rakshin 3.0

    leads focussed group discussions, hosts Webinars on the constitutional right to equality and prevention of child sexual abuse.

    Rakshin 4.0

    an Action Practioner, takes the initiative as part of his/her village service initiative to a peer group in Rural India.

    Rakshin 5.0

    is a dynamic leader chosen through a rigorous screening process and is at the forefront of social change. Rakshin 5.0 Fellows are social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to social problems being addressed by The Rakshin Project.

  • The Rakshin Project logo depicts an Adult Stakeholder preventing harm to a Child. The illustration also forms the initials of the project: T, R & P. The colours Aqua and Blue have been chosen for their symbolism for Health and Hygiene.

  • Sakshi pioneered work in Gender Equality, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Harassment, and Child Sexual abuse back in the early 1990s. Sakshi filed the landmark Public Interest Litigation (PIL) ‘Sakshi Vs. Union of India’ which informed the 172nd Law Reform, which became the basis for the POCSO Act. Sakshi has been working relentlessly over three decades to create a rights-based enabled environment where prevention takes precedence.